‘Out of a Hollywood movie:’ Woman jumps out of a burning vehicle on I-95, survives
WEST PALM BEACH (CBS12) — A woman survived a desperate leap out of a moving vehicle that erupted in flames on Interstate 95, according to West Palm Beach police.
Officials said the driver made the jump after her Jeep caught on fire while driving northbound on I-95 between Southern and Forest Hill boulevards about 2 p.m. Monday.
In body camera video released by police on Tuesday, a responding officer can be seen walking up to first responders, including an off-duty paramedic, rendering aid to the unidentified victim on the roadway. The injured driver was talking and awake, police said, and was taken to the hospital.
“Just when you think you’ve seen it all, or heard it all, this is like one of those that’s out of a Hollywood movie,” West Palm Beach Police Department spokesman Mike Jachles told CBS12 News on Tuesday.
The fact that she jumped out of her moving Jeep onto one of the nation’s busiest highways is nothing short of a miracle, according to police.
“Traffic was going at around 70-75 miles an hour. Her car apparently had slowed to about 30 miles an hour. It was on fire. At one point, she bailed out of the car. She landed in the second lane of Interstate 95, rolled into the first lane — the fast lane. Miraculously, [she] was not hit by any car,” Jachles said.
Strangers rushed to her rescue.
“There were good Samaritans that stopped and thought somebody was in that Jeep. They went and tried break the glass and fight the flames to get in and rescue someone from the car, and there was nobody in there,” Jachles said.
In the body camera footage, one injured witness said, “I saw the car on fire. I saw it brake, so I stopped and broke the windows. That’s where I got the cuts.”
“She jumped to bail. So, I hit my brakes and hit the hazards and came out. I got her blood all over me,” another witness told police.
The driver’s father was apparently close by.
A woman who witnessed the incident is heard on the body camera footage saying, “Her dad said it was making a noise and they were actually on their way to take it back to the dealership.”
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what your patch or your uniform says, we’re all here for the same purpose and that’s to help our fellow neighbors,” Jachles said.
The incident is under investigation, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
WPEC-CBS12 is a news partner of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.